6 comments so far

Renners, I will admit to not knowing much about English/Irish relations but, if you have invested the money into your business name and already have a client base with that name I would stick with it. Branding is a big thing and changing that brand would more then likely not lose you customers but could very well confuse them. This website page looks very good. I like the idea of the pop open windows to give more details on a piece.

By the way the 5 year question is a good one, perhaps I need to ask it of my own little business that my wife and I have started. Thanks for getting me to think about it. I wish you the best of luck and look forward to more posts.

If I’m understanding you correctly, I strongly recommend against text on your site that is (somewhat) intentionally unreadable without zooming in and such. It can come off unprofessional. A few years ago, I went professional with photography and the best money spent in the whole venture (which was very, very successful but we moved across country and I didn’t feel like starting over) was getting professional design advice for the website.

I was technically competent in website building, but many little design elements would simply have never occurred to me. Your website needs to essentially be driving sales , not just contacts or lookers – this is what additional professional design did for me. I’m not saying the website is bad, I think it looks rather nice – just advocating letting people do what they do best. If you’re a woodworker – then work wood. Let the design people design.

I think you’ll do great, people are attracted to quality – once they find it.

I think the idea of just adding ” Furniture Maker” after your existing name is a good idea. The thing that sells you and you work is your end product and you have no problem there. I tend to agree with Chris about letting the experts in web design do there thing. The web sites I’ve seen that get their point across best are ones that have a continual stream of photos of their work plus the basics like: contact us, about us, etc. Your product is your best sales tool.As far as your 5 year question goes for me ,I’ll be happy to still be around have my health and family and friends.It’s great to keep your eye on the big picture but sometimes that picture changes.

+1 to what Rhett said. My buddy is a professional painter/refinisher with a talent for faux finishes. Once he got in with high-end interior designers…he was set. They pretty much let him name his price as well.

I think the website looks great.

-- "At the end of the day, try and make it beautiful....because the world is full of ugly." Konrad Sauer

Jim, I’ve been coming around to that way of thinking, the thing that sells you and your work is your end product, I think the whole SPC thing is maybe a bit gimmicky, and whilst CtL points out there can be confusion in changing a brand, it’s not like a brand anyway – I only do a low volume of work for people and they are mostly surprised to see Square Peg Carpentry written on the van. I think it’s time to ditch the gimmicks and just put my name to my work.Just as an aside, I’m really in two minds whether having a sign written van is worth it. I haven’t ever been called by anyone who’s taken the number from the van, but I have done jobs for people locally who wouldn’t have known I was a woodworker without it – “ooh, you’re a carpenter aren’t you” type thing.And amen to still being around with family and friends in five years time.